Dressed Up!

We asked Jacob to take a picture of us before we headed out for a wedding. Next time I'll need to tell Jacob to avoid including the messy house in the shot!

Dressed for Success

Benny enjoyed getting dressed for this week's soccer practice.

Here he is!

Jacob got in the act too. Cool(?) head band!

Visit with Grammy & Grampy

Grammy and Grampy came for a visit last weekend. We played games, read books and went out to lunch! A great way to spend a rainy Saturday.

The boys goofing with Grampy.

Ripley taking it all in.

Grammy and Benny playing Battleship.

And playing yet another board game.

Grammy reading with Ben. Ben doing a Ninja move.

Grampy got tired out.

Smile!

Go Climb a Tree!

Benny likes to scare the heck out of me by climbing this tree in our front yard. Last time he did it, he went way too high! Here are some pictures of the dare devil!

There he is - way up there!

Perched atop a branch.

Is he okay or about to fall?

Using his skills to move from branch to branch.

Up there...way up!

Visit with the Shipman's

Our good friends, the Shipman family, came for a visit this Labor Day weekend. We had a fun time with plenty of swimming, Legos, an outdoor fire and s'mores, and other mayhem that four young boys can create. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

The Shipman Family - Shipman, Maura, Danny and Tommy

Trying to find that perfect Lego!

Shipman enjoying some wings on the deck.

Maura and Tommy.

Benny relaxing.

George throwing the kids around - there goes Jacob!

And here is Danny getting some air...

And Brendan was down for the day too!

And there goes Tommy - way up!

George needed a break after that!

Back to School!

It is hard to believe that we have a 5th grader and a 1st grader now! Time goes too quickly. Here are the boys on the first day of school.

Out for a Drive

In my effort to make every minute of the summer last, we took a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive down to the beach. The weather was perfect - a great last hurrah before school started.

George in the driver's seat.

The boys in the back.

A picture perfect day.

Moving along the shore.

Zip lining it!

Not very sure of myself. I was wearing "fashion" sandals though!

The boys were more confident. Can you see Benny in the background?

He is using his Ninja like skills to camouflage himself.

Seattle Trip

George and I took our big vacation this summer and visited George's brother Caleb out in Seattle. We had been looking forward to this trip for almost a year and we were not disappointed. We traveled without Jacob and Ben as the boys stayed with my parents. We were able to use "free miles" and got first class airplane tickets. And we were able to stay with Caleb and his fiance Stephanie at their apartment so we did not have to pay for a hotel.

Caleb and Stephanie planned some great activities for us - everything from touristy things in Seattle, to visiting a casino, a Yankees-Mariners baseball game and then going to Mt. Rainier.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

We had lunch at this downtown restaurant where they have trapeze artists perform!

We decided to eat outside on the nice deck.

George and Caleb are smiling nicely for the camera!

Stephanie and me!

Beers before the Yankees game.

At the ballpark.

It is a great place to see a game.

The Yankees won so George was happy.

Caleb and Stephanie seemed to be so too!

George needed a rest after all that activity.

Stephanie's cats really liked George!

On our way in Stephanie's convertible to Mt. Rainier.

I look like an alien!

The mountains are really big out there.

Breaking all of the safety guidelines.

Really amazing country.

I was scared that I would fall.

And back down the mountain we go...